3DEP in Michigan by the Numbers

$10.19 million 

Estimated total cost $19.39 million

Payback 1.9 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$12.34 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3107, ver. 1.1 

 January 2015

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Michigan

Introduction

Elevation data are essential to a broad 

range of applications, including forest 

resources management, wildlife and habitat 

management, national security, recreation, 

and many others. For the State of Michigan, 

elevation data are critical for agriculture and 

precision farming, natural resources conserand quality, infrastructure and construction 

management, coastal zone management, 

and other business uses. Today, high-density 

light detection and ranging (lidar) data are 

the primary sources for deriving elevation 

models and other datasets. Federal, State, 

Tribal, and local agencies work in partnership 

to (1) replace data that are older and of lower 

quality and (2) provide coverage where publicly accessible data do not exist. A joint goal 

of State and Federal partners is to acquire 

consistent, statewide coverage to support 

existing and emerging applications enabled 

by lidar data. 

The National Enhanced Elevation 

Assessment (NEEA; Dewberry, 2011) 

evaluated multiple elevation data acquisition 

options to determine the optimal data quality 

and data replacement cycle relative to cost to 

community. The evaluation demonstrated that 

lidar acquisition at quality level 2 (table 1) for 

the conterminous United States and quality 

level 5 interferometric synthetic aperture 

radar (ifsar) data (table 1) for Alaska with a 

6- to 10-year acquisition cycle provided the 

Program (3DEP) initiative (Snyder, 2012a,b) 

selected an 8-year acquisition cycle for the 

respective quality levels. 3DEP, managed 

by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the 

A–16 lead agency for terrestrial elevation data, responds to the growing need for 

high-quality topographic data and a wide 

range of other 3D representations of the 

Nation’s natural and constructed features. The 

Michigan Statewide Authoritative Imagery and Lidar (MiSAIL) program provides 

statewide lidar coordination with local, State, 

and national groups in support of 3DEP for 

Michigan.

3D Elevation Program Benefits 

for Michigan

The top 10 Michigan business uses for 

3D elevation data, which are based on the 

3DEP initiative, are shown in table 2. The 

NEEA survey respondents in the State of 

Michigan estimated that the national 3DEP 

initiative would result in at least $10.2 million 

for such a program in Michigan is approximately $19 million, resulting in a payback 

of 4.2 to 1 over an 8-year period. Because 

monetary estimates were not provided for 

3DEP to Michigan are likely much higher. 

On the basis of the NEEA survey results, all 

levels of government and many organizations 

statewide high-resolution elevation data.

For Michigan, approximately 72 percent 

3D Elevation Program

3DEP is a national program managed 

by the USGS to acquire high-resolution 

elevation data. The initiative is backed by 

a comprehensive assessment of requirements (Dewberry, 2011) and is in the 

early stages of implementation. 3DEP will 

improve data accuracy and provide more 

current data than is available in the National 

Elevation Dataset (NED). The goal of this 

high-priority cooperative program is to be 

operational by January 2015, and to have 

complete coverage of the United States 

by the end of 2022, depending on funding 

and partnerships. 3DEP can conservatively 

and has the potential to generate $13 bilgovernment services, reductions in crop 

and homeowner losses resulting from 

and a host of other government, corporate, 

and citizen activities (Dewberry, 2011). A 

shared, common elevation dataset would 

foster cooperation and improve decisionmaking among all levels of government and 

other stakeholders.

Benefits of a Funded National Program

• Economy of scale—Acquisition of 

data covering larger areas reduces 

costs by 25 percent.

• A systematic plan—Acquisition of 

data at a higher quality level reduces 

the cost of “buying up” to the highest 

levels needed by State and local 

governments.

• Higher quality data and national 

coverage—Ensure consistency for 

applications that span State and watershed boundaries and meet more needs, 

to citizens.

• Increase in Federal agency contributions—Reduces State and local partner 

contributions.

• Acquisition assistance—Provided 

through readily available contracts and 

Figure 1. Map of Michigan showing the 

extent of existing and planned publicly 

available lidar data. Information source is 

the United States Interagency Elevation 

Inventory, October 2014 (http://coast.noaa.

gov/inventory/?redirect=301ocm# ). The 

inventory is updated annually. Quality 

level 2 or better data meet 3DEP 

requirements. See table 1 for quality level 

information. 

0 75 Kilometers

0 60 Miles

EXPLANATION

Quality level 2

 or better data

Quality level 3

data

Quality level 4

or lower data

No publicly available

lidar data
Next Steps for Implementing 3DEP

Accomplishing the 3DEP initiative’s 

goal of national coverage in 8 years depends 

on the following factors:

• Increased partnerships among Federal, 

State, Tribal, and local governments. 

• Partnerships that acquire elevation data 

to the program’s specifications across 

larger project areas.

• Increased communication about and 

awareness of the program’s benefits 

and goals.

• Support for the program from government and other stakeholders.

For Further Information:

Director, 

USGS National Geospatial Program

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 511

Reston, VA 20192

Email: 3DEP@usgs.gov

Charles E. Hickman, 

 The National Map Liaison

6480 Doubletree Avenue

Columbus, Ohio 43229

Email: chickman@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

will be met in agriculture and precision 

farming, natural resources conservation, and 

flood risk management uses, as shown in 

table 2. The status of publicly available lidar 

data in Michigan is shown in figure 1. By 

enhancing coordination between 3DEP and 

various government and private organizations 

in Michigan, it may be possible to realize 

more than the cited conservative benefits and 

attain the higher potential benefits for many 

business uses.

The following examples highlight 

how 3DEP data can support business uses 

in Michigan: (1) Approximately 28 percent 

of the land area of Michigan is devoted to 

agricultural uses. Enhanced elevation data can 

provide a more accurate depiction of terrain 

and improve precision farming activities, 

which helps improve crop yields, prevent soil 

degradation, and reduce agricultural chemical 

runoff—factors that help farmers realize 

a larger return on their investments. (2) 

Enhanced elevation data could enable State, 

regional, and local governments to reduce 

field work for conservation projects such as 

grade stabilization, ponds, grassed waterways, terracing, and wetland delineation and 

restoration, which would yield a cost savings 

to the public. (3) Subtle features not evident 

on conventional USGS topographic maps (or 

aerial photography) often are readily apparent 

on lidar images (fig. 2). The availability of 

lidar data has fundamentally changed how 

geological mapping and geological resource 

evaluations are conducted.

References Cited

Dewberry, 2011, Final report of the National 

Enhanced Elevation Assessment (revised 

2012): Fairfax, Va., Dewberry, 84 p. 

plus appendixes, http://www.dewberry.

com/Consultants/GeospatialMapping/

FinalReport-NationalEnhancedElevation

Assessment.

Snyder, G.I., 2012a, National Enhanced 

Elevation Assessment at a glance: U.S. 

Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2012–3088, 

2 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3088/.

Snyder, G.I., 2012b, The 3D Elevation 

Program—Summary of program 

direction: U.S. Geological Survey 

Fact Sheet 2012–3089, 2 p., http://

pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3089/.

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20143107

3D Elevation Program—Continued

The USGS and its partners will 

acquire quality level 2 or better (table 1) 

3D lidar data over the conterminous United 

States, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories. 

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar 

(ifsar) data are being collected at quality 

level 5 (table 1) in Alaska. The data will 

be acquired over an 8-year period and will 

be made available to the public. By using 

this acquisition scenario, a number of 

high-quality elevation-data products can be 

created to serve a wide range of business 

uses in government and the private sector.

Figure 2. Enhanced elevation lidar 

data provide a more detailed view of the 

landscape and reveal subtle features 

that are not evident on a traditional USGS 

7.5-minute topographic map (from 1980) of 

Northwest Albion, Michigan (A). Features 

such as the esker glacial deposits trending 

southwest to northeast on the lidar shaded 

relief map of the Northwest Albion area of 

Calhoun County (B) are often the source 

of economically important gravel deposits. 

Courtesy of Michigan Geological Survey.

Table 2. Conservative benefits estimates for the top 10 business uses of the proposed 

3DEP data identified in the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment for Michigan

 (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Agriculture and precision farming $3.16

2 Natural resources conservation 2.93

3 Flood risk management 1.27

4 Water supply and quality 0.75

5 Infrastructure and construction management 0.72

6 Coastal zone management 0.69

7 Forest resources management 0.36

8 Aviation navigation and safety 0.13

9 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.11

10 Renewable energy resources 0.03

Other 0.04

Total 10.19

Table 1. Data quality levels and related 

accuracies for the 3D Elevation Program 

(3DEP) initiative are provided on page 6 in 

USGS Circular 1399 (http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/

cir1399 ). These data quality parameters for 

the 3DEP initiative approximate those used in 

the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment 

(Dewberry, 2011).

[RMSE(z), root mean square error in the z

(elevation) dimension; n/a, not applicable]

Quality 

level

Nominal pulse 

spacing

(meters)

Vertical error 

as RMSE(z)

(centimeters)

1 0.35 10

2 0.7 10

3 2.0 20

4 n/a 139

5 n/a 185

A B